2015–16 Belgian Pro League


The 2015–16 season of the Belgian Pro League was the 113th season of top-tier football in Belgium. It started in the last week of July 2015 and finished in May 2016. Gent were the defending champions.
This was the last season under the "Pro League" name; a reorganisation of the Belgian professional leagues followed the season, with the top league to be known from 2016–17 forward as "First Division A".

Changes from 2014–15

Structural changes

Some changes were introduced in comparison to the previous season, with the most important one being the relegation rules. Instead of organising a relegation playoff between the teams finishing in the two last positions, this season will rather see the last team relegated immediately, while the 15th placed team will not play in any playoff and will remain in the renamed Belgian First Division A.
Several other smaller changes were introduced, namely:
The first two of these rules were put in force as a compensation for the rule that the points obtained during the regular season are halved prior to the start of the championship playoff, to the complaint of several teams that had been in the lead after the regular season the past few seasons. The third rule was put in force to avoid the effect of players intentionally taking yellow cards near the end of the regular season, to make sure they were suspended before the playoffs and could start the deciding playoffs with a clean sheet.

Team changes

Stadiums and locations

ClubLocationVenueCapacity
AnderlechtConstant Vanden Stock Stadium21,000
CharleroiStade du Pays de Charleroi14,000
BruggeJan Breydel Stadium29,042
GenkCristal Arena24,956
GhentGhelamco Arena19,999
KortrijkGuldensporen Stadion9,399
LokerenDaknamstadion9,560
MechelenAFAS-stadion Achter de Kazerne13,213
MouscronStade Le Canonnier10,571
OstendAlbertpark8,000
LeuvenDen Dreef9,493
Sint-TruidenStayen14,600
LiègeStade Maurice Dufrasne28,278
BeverenFreethiel Stadion8,190
WesterloHet Kuipje8,035
WaregemRegenboogstadion9,540

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Regular season

League table

Positions by round

Note: The classification was made after the weekend of each matchday, so postponed matches were only processed at the time they were played to represent the real evolution in standings.

Championship play-offs

The points obtained during the regular season were halved before the start of the playoff. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the playoff: Club Brugge 32 points, Gent 30, Anderlecht 28, Oostende 25, Genk 24 and Zulte Waregem 22. The points of Anderlecht, Oostende and Zulte-Waregem were rounded up, therefore in case of any ties on points at the end of the playoffs, the half point will be deducted for these teams.

Play-off table

Positions by round

Below the positions per round are shown. As teams did not all start with an equal number of points, the initial pre-playoffs positions are also given.

Europa League play-offs

Group A contains the teams finishing the regular season in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14. The teams that finish in positions 8, 10, 11 and 13 are placed in Group B.

Group A

Group B

Europa League play-off final

The winners of both playoff groups compete in a two-legged match to play the fourth-placed team of the championship play-offs, called Testmatch. The winner of this Testmatch was granted an entry to the second qualifying round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.
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Charleroi won 3–1 on aggregate.

Testmatches Europa League

The matches were played over two legs between the Europa League play-off final winners and the fourth-placed team of the championship play-offs. The winner qualified for the second qualifying round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.
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Genk won 5–3 on aggregate.

Season statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Jérémy PerbetCharleroi20
2 Mbaye LeyeZulte Waregem18
3 Sofiane HanniMechelen17
4 Stefano OkakaAnderlecht14
5 CyriacOostende13
5 Laurent DepoitreGent13
5 Abdoulay DiabyClub Brugge13
5 Frédéric GounongbeWesterlo13
5 Sven KumsGent13
5 Jelle VossenClub Brugge13

Top assists

RankPlayerClubAssists
1 Onur KayaZulte Waregem12
2 Mathieu DosseviStandard Liège10
3 Thibault MoulinWaasland-Beveren9
4 Leon BaileyGenk7
4 Sofiane HanniMechelen7
4 Danijel MilićevićGent7
4 Ayanda PatosiLokeren7
8 Franck BerrierOostende6
8 Steven DefourAnderlecht6
8 Anthony KnockaertStandard Liège6
8 Jordan LukakuOostende6
8 Tim MatthysMechelen6
8 Dennis PraetAnderlecht6
8 Jordan RemacleOH Leuven6
8 Clément TainmontCharleroi6
8 Leandro TrossardOH Leuven6

Multiple goals in one match

PlayerForAgainstGoalsMatch ResultDate
Igor de CamargoGenk*OH Leuven26', 81' 25 July 2015
Maxime ChanotKortrijk*Standard Liège40', 64' 25 July 2015
Jovan KostovskiOH LeuvenWesterlo*21', 78' 8 August 2015
Knowledge MusonaOostende*Anderlecht3', 89' 16 August 2015
Steeven LangilWaasland-Beveren*Mouscron-Péruwelz6', 90+2' 22 August 2015
Laurent DepoitreGent*Mechelen49', 90+3' 29 August 2015
Christophe LepointZulte WaregemOostende*42', 68' 29 August 2015
Abdoulay Diaby 4Club Brugge*Standard Liège8', 37', 77', 90+1' 30 August 2015
Cyriac 3OostendeWaasland-Beveren*34', 48', 52' 12 September 2015
Thomas MattonGent*Standard Liège62', 90' 20 September 2015
Tuur DierckxClub Brugge*Waasland-Beveren40', 46' 20 September 2015
Mbaye LeyeZulte Waregem*Westerlo42', 49' 25 September 2015
Sven Kums 3Gent*Club Brugge15', 51', 62' 4 October 2015
Benjamin De CeulaerWesterloStandard Liège*9', 44' 17 October 2015
Yohan CroizetOH LeuvenLokeren*3', 73' 17 October 2015
Stefano OkakaAnderlechtZulte Waregem*14', 52' 18 October 2015
Sofiane HanniMechelen*Zulte Waregem35', 66' 24 October 2015
Mame ThiamZulte WaregemMechelen*16', 70' 24 October 2015
Yohan BoliSint-Truiden*Kortrijk48', 52' 25 October 2015
Fernando CanesinOostende*Genk27', 35' 27 October 2015
Abdoulay DiabyClub Brugge*OH Leuven41', 69' 28 October 2015
Andy NajarAnderlecht*Mouscron-Péruwelz51', 90+3' 1 November 2015
Frédéric GounongbeWesterloWaasland-Beveren*43', 58' 7 November 2015
Jérémy PerbetCharleroiGent*23', 61' 8 November 2015
Sven KumsGent*Westerlo68', 77' 20 November 2015
Idrissa SyllaAnderlecht*OH Leuven39', 68' 29 November 2015
Jelle VossenClub BruggeMechelen*66', 73' 29 November 2015
Jovan KostovskiOH Leuven*Westerlo9', 24' 5 December 2015
Marko ŠćepovićMouscron-PéruwelzKortrijk*15', 84' 12 December 2015
Frédéric GounongbeWesterlo*Charleroi41', 70' 19 December 2015
Dennis PraetAnderlechtClub Brugge*35', 90+3' 20 December 2015
Knowledge MusonaOostende*Standard Liège31', 50' 20 December 2015
Laurent DepoitreGent*Anderlecht10', 89' 17 January 2016
Ivan SantiniStandard LiègeLokeren*56', 65' 17 January 2016
Siebe SchrijversWaasland-BeverenOostende*7', 17' 17 January 2016
Lior RefaelovClub Brugge*Lokeren12', 28' 31 January 2016
Frank AcheampongAnderlechtMechelen*18', 70' 5 February 2016
Nick ProschwitzSint-TruidenStandard Liège*43', 60' 7 February 2016
Nikos KarelisGenk*Waasland-Beveren9', 26' 13 February 2016
Hans VanakenClub Brugge*Westerlo25', 71' 19 February 2016
Thanasis PapazoglouKortrijk*Sint-Truiden17', 51' 20 February 2016
Anice BadriMouscron-Péruwelz*OH Leuven88', 90+3' 20 February 2016
Michiel JonckheereOostende*Gent13', 54' 21 February 2016
John BostockOH Leuven*Oostende27', 56' 27 February 2016
Yohan CroizetOH Leuven*Oostende29', 59' 27 February 2016
Thibault MoulinWaasland-BeverenCharleroi*48', 90+3' 28 February 2016
CyriacOostende*Charleroi77', 83' 5 March 2016
Nicolas VerdierMechelen*Standard Liège15', 42' 13 March 2016
Sofiane HanniMechelen*Standard Liège12', 78' 13 March 2016
Sofiane HanniMechelen*Charleroi77', 85' 16 April 2016
Jelle VossenClub Brugge*Zulte Waregem75', 86' 23 April 2016
Hervé KageKortrijk*Waasland-Beveren28', 37' 23 April 2016
Jérémy PerbetCharleroi*Mechelen25', 81' 23 April 2016
Yassine El GhanassyOostende*Anderlecht45+1', 81' 24 April 2016
Hamdi HarbaouiLokerenCharleroi*6', 8' 29 April 2016
Jérémy PerbetCharleroi*Lokeren12', 90+4' 29 April 2016
Hervé KageKortrijkMouscron-Péruwelz*52', 73' 7 May 2016
Julian MichelMouscron-Péruwelz*Kortrijk4', 83' 7 May 2016
Hamdi Harbaoui 4Lokeren*Mechelen25', 53', 73', 83' 7 May 2016